JP2009105866A - Distortion and noise canceling system for hfc network - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a distortion and noise canceling system for HFC network, capable of canceling and removing distortions and noise components of a signal, generated and accumulated in a hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) network. <P>SOLUTION: A distortion and noise canceling system transmits an optical signal from the input side of an optical network unit (ONU) 108 of an existing HFC network to a coaxial distribution hub 112 through a separate optical fiber jumper (optical cable 120); converts the optical signal into a distortion and noise-free radio frequency (RF) signal; extracts only the distortions and noise components by combining the converted distortion and noise free RF signal with a distortion and noise containing RF signal, in opposite phase, while passing through coaxial cables 110 and multi-stage coaxial trunk-line amplifiers 114 in an HFC network; cancels out the distortions and noise components, by combining the extracted distortion and noise component with the distortion and noise containing RF signal, in opposite phase by a distortion and noise canceling section 122, thereby improving signal transmission properties. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a distortion and noise canceling system for an HFC network that cancels out signal distortion and noise components generated and accumulated from an HFC (Hybrid Fiber-Coax) network. More specifically, in an HFC network that is a mixed optical / coaxial network that transmits a predetermined signal using both an optical cable and a coaxial cable, an optical network unit (ONU) transmits an optical signal transmitted through the optical cable to an RF (Radio). When the signal is converted into a frequency signal and transmitted through a coaxial cable, the distortion and noise components generated and accumulated by a plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers cascaded to the coaxial cable are converted into a coaxial distribution hub (hub). The present invention relates to a distortion and noise cancellation system for an HFC network that can improve the signal transmission characteristics of broadcasting and communication networks by canceling with the above.

  The HFC network is a communication network that efficiently combines an optical cable and a coaxial cable, and is often used for transmission and distribution of multi-channel cable TV broadcast signals. Broadcast stations that send out cable TV broadcast signals collect multi-channel cable TV broadcast signals and transmit them to the distribution center using optical cables at the headend. The distribution center divides the received optical signals into multiple optical cables. To a plurality of ONUs.

The distance from the head end to the plurality of ONUs is a relatively long distance of about several kilometers to several tens of kilometers. However, by transmitting a broadband multi-channel cable TV broadcast signal using an optical signal via an optical cable, signal attenuation can be achieved. Distortion is extremely small.
In the ONU, the optical signal is converted into an RF signal, and the converted RF signal is transmitted to the coaxial distribution hub through a coaxial cable and a multi-stage coaxial trunk amplifier, and then the coaxial cable and the amplifier are connected again from the coaxial distribution hub. To the subscriber terminal.

  In the ONU, the distance between the coaxial distribution hubs is about several hundred m to several km, and the distance is relatively short. However, since the RF signal is transmitted through the coaxial cable, the attenuation of the signal is extremely large. Are used in a multistage cascade connection at regular intervals, a large amount of distortion and noise are generated and accumulated by a plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers.

  Such an HFC network is not limited to the transmission of TV broadcast signals due to the tendency of the combination of broadcasting and communication, but also various types including Internet connection, VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol), VOD (Video On Demand) and remote meter reading. Its role is increasing, such as providing additional services.

  In particular, due to recent technological trends such as digitalization of broadcasting, integration of communication and broadcasting, and multi-channel and multi-media, the number of transmission channels and additional services required for the HFC network further increase, and the transmission bandwidth is expanded. Therefore, high performance is required, and it is positioned as an important infrastructure as a basic communication network for communication and broadcasting.

  The HFC network is capable of relatively wideband signal transmission, is highly reliable and economical, has excellent workability, and is easy to install, expand and remove. In addition, bidirectional communication using a single coaxial cable can be implemented at low cost, and the power of various active devices can be supplied by superimposing RF signals and AC power on the coaxial cable. It is most widely used as a transmission and distribution network.

  However, the HFC network has various disadvantages and limitations. That is, the optical cable section can transmit a long distance with low loss, and an infinite bandwidth and flat bandwidth characteristics can be obtained. However, relatively wide-band transmission is possible in the section where transmission is performed using a coaxial cable, but compared to the loss in the optical cable section, the transmission loss is extremely large, ranging from tens to hundreds of times depending on the frequency, It has a non-flat band characteristic in which the loss increases in proportion to the square of the frequency.

  Therefore, the HFC network is connected to the trunk line and the bridger line using a coaxial cable from the ONU to the subscriber terminal, and the signal attenuation is reduced to compensate for the high loss of the coaxial cable. The band characteristics are adjusted to be flat by amplifying signals transmitted by providing coaxial trunk amplifiers at intervals of about 200 to 400 m, which is a distance of about 20 dB. The subscriber terminal is connected to a drop cable through a tap-off.

  The distance between the coaxial trunk amplifiers varies depending on the transmission loss in the coaxial cable used and the number of channels or transmission bandwidth to be transmitted. Further, the number of stages in which the coaxial trunk amplifiers can be cascade-connected is limited to a range in which the accumulated amount of distortion and noise components can satisfy the required signal quality of the subscriber, and 5 to 20 stages can be connected depending on the required quality.

  Therefore, the performance of the HFC network depends on the accumulation of noise components due to the cascade connection of coaxial trunk amplifiers and the accumulation of distortion components such as intermodulation and intermodulation due to the nonlinearity of the respective coaxial trunk amplifiers.

  Actually, the cable TV broadcasting system transmits analog TV channels and digital TV channels of 60 channels or more and close to 200 channels by frequency division multiplexing (FDM). Accordingly, the signals transmitted downstream by the HFC network include video carrier, audio carrier and color subcarrier for analog TV broadcast, carrier for digital TV broadcast, Internet data signal and various additional service signals. One hundred carrier waves are mixed.

If there is nonlinearity in the transfer function of the coaxial trunk amplifier used in the transmission section of the coaxial cable, the hundreds of carriers are amplified nonlinearly and distortion occurs. In addition, amplitude modulation occurs between a plurality of arbitrary carrier waves, and sum and difference components between the carrier wave frequencies are generated. Therefore, in the cable TV broadcasting system, a signal that becomes a frequency component of several thousand or more sums and differences (referred to as a beat product or a beat) is generated by an arbitrary combination of carrier waves. Since the generated signal is a frequency spectrum component other than the signal component to be transmitted, it is superimposed on the TV transmission channel as a distortion component to cause interference.
Among the transmission characteristics of the HFC network, the most important performance factors are CSO (Composite Second Order) indicating second-order distortion, which is the distortion component that most affects TV video signals, and CTB (Composite Triple Beat) indicating third-order distortion. It is a carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) that is a component and is a carrier-to-noise ratio indicating the amount of noise.

  The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to cancel distortion components such as CSO and CTB generated from the coaxial cascade amplification stage of the HFC network and noise components expressed by CNR. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a distortion and noise canceling system for an HFC network that can improve the transmission characteristics of the HFC network and improve the signal performance transmitted to the subscriber terminal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the HFC network distortion and noise canceling system according to the present invention converts an optical signal received from the head end side via the first optical cable into an RF signal and distributes the coaxial signal via the coaxial cable. An ONU that transmits to a hub, a plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers that are cascade-connected to the coaxial cable and amplifies the RF signal, and an optical signal that is branched by the first optical cable and transmitted to the coaxial distribution hub via a second optical cable And an optical branching device that is included in the coaxial distribution hub and extracts the distortion and noise components contained in the RF signal received through the coaxial cable using the optical signal transmitted by the second optical cable. A distortion and noise canceling unit that cancels the distortion and noise components by coupling the distortion and noise components to the RF signal received via the coaxial cable. And wherein the Mukoto.

According to the HFC network distortion and noise cancellation system of the present invention, an ONU converts an optical signal transmitted via an optical cable into an RF signal, and transmits the RF signal to a coaxial distribution hub via a coaxial cable. The RF signal is amplified to compensate for transmission loss in the coaxial cable.
Then, an optical distributor is provided in the optical cable to divide the optical signal into a large number, and the divided optical signal is transmitted through the optical cable to a large number of coaxial distribution hubs that require it. The coaxial distribution hub includes a distortion and noise canceling unit. The distortion and noise cancellation unit converts an optical signal transmitted through the optical cable into an RF signal, and uses a difference value between the coaxial cable and an RF signal transmitted through a plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers as a distortion and noise component. Extract.
The extracted distortion and noise components are combined with the RF signal transmitted through the coaxial cable and a plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers so that the phases are opposite to each other. Therefore, the distortion and noise components included in the RF signal transmitted via the coaxial cable are canceled and removed, and the coaxial distribution hub removes the distortion and noise components in the next network and subscriber terminal. An RF signal with excellent signal performance can be supplied.

  The distortion and noise cancellation unit converts an optical signal received through the second optical cable into an RF signal, and combines the converted RF signal with an RF signal received through the coaxial cable to generate distortion and noise. A distortion and noise component extraction unit that extracts components, and an offset that cancels the distortion and noise components by combining the distortion and noise components extracted by the distortion and noise component extraction unit with an RF signal received via the coaxial cable. Part.

  The distortion and noise cancellation unit further includes a directional coupler that divides an RF signal received via the coaxial cable and inputs the RF signal to the distortion and noise component extraction unit and the cancellation unit, respectively. be able to.

  The distortion and noise component extraction unit includes an optical / RF signal converter that converts an optical signal received via the second optical cable into an RF signal, and a delay that delays the RF signal converted by the optical / RF signal converter. And a directional coupler that extracts the distortion and noise components by subtracting the RF signal delayed by the delay device from the RF signal received via the coaxial cable.

  An equalizer for adjusting an overall frequency response characteristic of an RF signal converted by the optical / RF signal converter may be further provided between the optical / RF signal converter and the delay unit.

  The distortion and noise component extraction unit may further include an attenuator that attenuates an RF signal received via the coaxial cable.

  The cancellation unit may include a directional coupler that subtracts the distortion and noise components extracted by the distortion and noise component extraction unit from an RF signal received via the coaxial cable.

  The canceling unit amplifies the distortion and noise components extracted by the distortion and noise component extraction unit and inputs them to the directional coupler; and a phase of an RF signal received via the coaxial cable It is possible to make a configuration further including a phase shifter that causes the directional coupler to be input to the directional coupler.

As described above, the present invention extracts distortion and noise components generated in the process of transmitting an RF signal by the coaxial cable and coaxial trunk amplifier of the HFC network, and the extracted distortion and noise components are extracted from the coaxial cable and coaxial trunk line. By combining the extracted distortion and noise components and the distortion and noise components contained in the RF signal with each other by coupling to the RF signal transmitted by the amplifier in antiphase, the three most important performances of the HFC network are obtained. Since the carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR), second-order distortion (CSO), and third-order distortion (CTB), which are elements, can be considerably reduced, the transmission quality of the HFC network can be improved.
Therefore, the present invention can supply a multi-channel cable TV broadcast signal with excellent signal performance free of distortion and noise components to the subscriber terminal device of the HFC network, and increase the number of cascade connection stages of the HFC network as the signal performance is improved. Therefore, the transmission distance of the HFC network can be further extended, or when the same distance is transmitted, the total number of transmittable channels can be increased. This means that a general HFC network is evolved into a high-performance HFC network.

  The following detailed description is exemplary only and represents only one embodiment of the present invention. Also, the principles and concepts of the present invention are most useful and are provided for purposes of explanation. Accordingly, various forms that can be implemented from the substance of the present invention by those skilled in the art are illustrated through the drawings as well as not intending to provide a detailed structure more than necessary for basic understanding of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of an HFC network using a distortion and noise cancellation system according to the present invention. The HFC network outputs an optical signal at the head end 100 which is a cable TV broadcast signal transmission device. The optical signal output from the head end 100 is transmitted to the distribution center 104 via the optical cable 102. The distribution center 104 distributes the optical signal into a plurality of parts. The plurality of distributed optical signals are transmitted to the plurality of ONUs 108 provided in the optical hubs in the respective regions via the plurality of optical cables 106, respectively.
The distance from the head end 100 to the ONU 108 is a relatively long distance of about several kilometers to several tens of kilometers. However, by transmitting a cable TV broadcast signal through the optical cables 102 and 106 as an optical signal, signal attenuation can be achieved. There is very little distortion.

The plurality of ONUs 108 convert the transmitted optical signals into RF signals, and transmit the converted RF signals to the plurality of coaxial distribution hubs 112 via the coaxial cable 110.
When an RF signal is transmitted through the coaxial cable 110, attenuation occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a coaxial trunk amplifier 114 at a position where the loss of the RF signal transmitted through the coaxial cable 110 is about 20 dB, for example, at intervals of about 200 to 400 m to compensate for attenuation of the RF signal. A large number of coaxial trunk amplifiers 114 are cascaded to the coaxial cable 110 to transmit the RF signal to the coaxial distribution hub 112. The coaxial distribution hub 112 transmits the RF signal to the subscriber station using a branching amplifier or an extension amplifier (not shown).

  As described above, the HFC network includes a plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers 114 in order to compensate for the attenuation of the RF signal generated in the process of transmitting the RF signal output from the ONU 108 to the coaxial distribution hub 112 via the coaxial cable 110. Is used to amplify the RF signal. However, distortion and noise are generated by amplifying an RF signal by the plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers 114, and the generated distortion and noise components are accumulated every time the coaxial trunk amplifiers 114 pass through, thereby degrading the RF signal. It becomes like this.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the optical cable 106 that transmits the optical signal from the distribution center 104 to the ONU 108 is provided with the optical branching device 116, and a part of the optical signal transmitted by the optical cable 106 is branched. The optical signals branched by the optical branching device 116 are distributed to a plurality of optical signals by the optical distributor 118 and then transmitted to the plurality of coaxial distribution hubs 112 via the optical cable 120, respectively.

  The optical signal branched from the optical cable 106 and transmitted to the coaxial distribution hub 112 via the optical distributor 118 and the optical cable 120 has very little loss, and since it passes only through the optical cable 120, distortion and noise are almost included. Absent.

  Each of the plurality of coaxial distribution hubs 112 includes a distortion and noise canceling unit 122. The distortion and noise canceling unit 122 extracts distortion and noise components included in the RF signal using an RF signal received via the coaxial cable 110 and an optical signal received via the optical cable 120. . The distortion and noise canceling unit 122 combines the extracted distortion and noise components with the RF signal received via the coaxial cable 110 to cancel the distortion and noise components included in the RF signal. .

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a preferred embodiment of the distortion and noise cancellation system of the present invention. As shown in the figure, an RF signal received via the coaxial cable 110 is amplified by an amplifier 200 and input to a directional coupler 210, whereby a part of the RF signal is separated. The separated RF signal is input to the distortion and noise component extraction unit 220 of the distortion and noise cancellation unit 122.

  The distortion and noise component extraction unit 220 includes an optical / RF signal converter 221, an equalizer 223, a delay unit 225, an attenuator 227, and a directional coupler 229. An optical signal received by the optical distributor 118 via the optical cable 120 is input to the optical / RF signal converter 221 of the distortion and noise component extraction unit 220 and converted into an RF signal. The RF signal converted by the optical / RF signal converter 221 is equalized so that the total frequency response characteristic of the RF signal matches the total frequency response characteristic of the RF signal received via the coaxial cable 110. It is equalized by the device 223.

  The RF signal equalized by the equalizer 223 is input to the delay unit 225 so that the delay time of the RF signal transmitted through all the coaxial cable 110 and the coaxial trunk amplifier 114 is the same as that of the RF signal. After the delay, the signal is input to the negative input terminal (−) of the directional coupler 229.

The RF signal partially separated by the directional coupler 210 is input to the attenuator 227 and attenuated so that the voltage level is the same as that of the RF signal output from the delay unit 225. , And input to the positive input terminal (+) of the directional coupler 229.
Then, the directional coupler 229 has an RF signal input from the delay unit 225 to the negative input terminal (−), and a distortion and noise component input from the attenuator 227 to the positive input terminal (+). By synthesizing with the included RF signal, the signal component is removed from the RF signal, and only the distortion and noise components can be extracted.

  The distortion and noise components extracted by the directional coupler 229 are amplified by being input to the error amplifier 231 of the canceling unit 230 and then input to the negative input terminal (−) of the directional coupler 235. The

  In addition, the phase of the RF signal that has passed through the directional coupler 210 is shifted by the phase shifter 233 as the phase delay of the error amplifier 231 is input to the positive input terminal (+) of the directional coupler 235. .

  Therefore, the directional coupler 235 receives an RF signal including distortion and noise components input from the phase shifter 233 to the positive input terminal (+), and the negative input terminal (− By combining the distortion and noise components input to each other), a clean RF signal with the distortion and noise components canceled can be output.

  With respect to the distortion and noise cancellation system of the present invention, the operation of removing the distortion and noise components mixed in the RF signal and outputting a clean RF signal will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

For example, it is assumed that the signal component of a clean RF signal free from distortion and noise components is S (t), and the distortion and noise component mixed in the RF signal is D (t).
Then, the RF signal S (t) + D (t) including noise and distortion components received via the coaxial cable 110 (see FIG. 2) is amplified by the amplifier 200. Here, assuming that the amplification gain of the amplifier 200 is G, the output signal of the amplifier 200 is G · S (t) + G · D (t).

  The level of the output signal G · S (t) + G · D (t) of the amplifier 200 is divided into G 1 and G 2 by the directional coupler 210, and the G 1 level is input to the attenuator 227. Here, if the total attenuation value of the attenuator 227 including the loss value of the directional coupler 210 is set to 1 / G1, the attenuator 227 outputs the output signal G1 · S (t) + G1 · D of the amplifier 200. (T) is attenuated by 1 / G1, and S (t) + D (t) is output. The output signal S (t) + D (t) of the attenuator 227 is input to the positive input terminal (+) of the directional coupler 229.

  Then, the optical signal received via the optical distributor 118 and the optical cable 120 shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 is input by the optical / RF signal converter 221, and a clean RF signal with almost no distortion and noise components is input. Convert to S (t). The RF signal S (t) converted by the optical / RF signal converter 221 is input to the negative input terminal (−) of the directional coupler 229 through the equalizer 223 and the delay unit 225.

  Here, the delay unit 225 delays the RF signal S (t) to match the delay time of the RF signal S (t) + D (t) including noise and distortion components output from the attenuator 227. .

The directional coupler 229 includes an RF signal S (t) + D (t) including noise and distortion components input from the attenuator 227 to the positive input terminal (+), and a negative electrode from the delay 225. By combining the clean RF signal S (t) input to the sex input terminal (−), the signal components S (t) of the RF signal cancel each other as shown in Equation 1, so noise and distortion Only component D (t) can be extracted.
[S (t) + D (t)] − S (t) = D (t) (Formula 1)

The noise and distortion component D (t) extracted by the directional coupler 229 is amplified by the error amplifier 231.
Here, it is assumed that the amplification gain of the error amplifier 231 is set to G2. Then, the output signal of the error amplifier 231 becomes G2 · D (t). The output signal G 2 · D (t) of the error amplifier 231 is input to the negative input terminal (−) of the directional coupler 235.

  If the level of the RF signal including noise and distortion components distributed in consideration of the loss in the directional coupler 210 is G2 · S (t) + G2 · D (t), this is the phase shifter. By adjusting the phase at 233 to make the phase coincide with the noise and distortion components G 2 · D (t) output from the error amplifier 231, the positive input terminal (+) of the directional coupler 235 is applied. Entered.

Accordingly, the directional coupler 235 includes the noise and distortion components G2 · D (t) input from the error amplifier 231 to the negative input terminal (−) and the positive polarity input terminal (+) from the phase shifter 233. ) And the RF signal G2 · S (t) + G2 · D (t) including noise and distortion components input to the noise and distortion component G2 · D (t) as shown in Equation 2 Since they are canceled out, a clean RF signal G2 · S (t) free from noise and distortion components can be output.
[G2 · S (t) + G2 · D (t)] − G2 · D (t) = G2 · S (t) (Expression 2)

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment in which the distortion and noise cancellation system of the present invention is applied to a coaxial distribution hub branch amplifier of an HFC network. Here, reference numeral 300 is a circuit configuration diagram of a coaxial amplifier (Bridger Amplifier) typically used in an existing HFC network, and includes an upstream and downstream signal portion, an AC power supply portion, and network monitoring ( It is the example which showed the block diagram of the commercial product containing all the components including the transponder (transponder) part for (Network Management System).

  In FIG. 4, reference numeral 400 denotes a part added to the existing HFC network coaxial branch amplifier 300 according to the present invention, and basically has the same configuration as the distortion and noise canceling unit 122 shown in FIG. 2. . However, the distortion and noise canceling device 400 is actually added as a commercial product with a plug-in-delay and a plug-in-pad necessary for the convenience of installation and adjustment. The other configuration is slightly changed, and a specific operation is included in the description of FIG.

  In the coaxial branch amplifier 300, reference numerals 302, 304, 306, 308 and 310 are all coaxial cable connection terminals. The coaxial cable connection terminal 302 is an input terminal for an RF signal transmitted from the ONU 108 (see FIG. 2) of the HFC network via the coaxial cable 110. The coaxial cable connection terminals 304, 306, 308, and 310 are branch output terminals, and are all used when signals are transmitted bidirectionally. That is, the low frequency and the high frequency are divided and used as an upstream signal and a downstream signal, respectively.

  Reference numeral 312 denotes an RF / AC separator. The RF / AC separator 312 is an LC impedance circuit network that separates the RF signal and the AC power, and simultaneously passes the AC power of 50-60 Hz while sending the RF signal to the coaxial cable for the HFC network, The RF signal and AC power are separated, or AC power is inserted into the RF signal and mixed. The AC power is rectified by a rectifier (not shown) and converted into a DC voltage, and then supplied to the operating voltage of the amplifier and all active circuits.

  In FIG. 4, the RF / AC separator 312 is shown only at the coaxial cable connection terminal 302. However, all of the coaxial cable connection terminals 304, 306, 308, and 310 can be provided with an RF / AC separator.

  Reference numeral 314 denotes a diplexer. The diplexer 314 outputs a high frequency signal to the upper (H) portion and a low frequency signal to the lower (L) when a low frequency and high frequency signal is input to the center. The In addition, a high-pass filter and a low-pass filter that can perform the reverse operation are combined.

  Therefore, the RF signal input to the coaxial cable connection terminal 302 enters the RF side from the RF / AC separator 312 and the AC power is separated to the lower AC side and connected to a power supply (not shown). The RF signal output to the RF terminal of the RF / AC separator 312 is input to the diplexer 314, but the downstream signal having a high frequency is output to the upper side (H) and input to the equalizer 316. The flatness of the band frequency response characteristic of the downstream signal is adjusted, and the signal level is appropriately reduced by the attenuator pad 318 so as to be suitable for the input of the rear-end preamplifier 320.

  The downstream signal amplified by the preamplifier 320 passes through a high-pass filter and gain controller 322, and has an amplitude level of the signal and a band frequency response characteristic of the output signal by the attenuator pad 324 and the equalizer 326. After each flatness is adjusted, it is input to a post-amplifier 330 through a pin diode 328 and amplified to a final amplitude level.

  Here, the pin diode 328 extracts and feeds back the amplitude level of the branch circuit output amplifier 366 to the control voltage of the automatic amplitude control (ALC: Automatic Level Control) circuit 336, and adjusts the input level of the post-amplifier 330. By controlling, the branch circuit output signal level is stabilized. In other words, the automatic amplitude adjusting circuit 336 is a negative feedback circuit that senses the level of the branch output that has passed from the directional coupler 332 through the attenuator pad 334 and stabilizes the output according to the level fluctuation.

The output signal of the post-amplifier 330 is directly input to the output-distortion / noise canceling changeover switch 338. The movable terminal of the output-distortion / noise canceling changeover switch 338 is connected to the fixed terminal a on one side. In some cases, the output signal of the post-amplifier 330 is directly input to the directional coupler 340 without passing through the distortion and noise canceling apparatus 400 of the present invention. When the movable terminal of the output-distortion / noise canceling changeover switch 338 is connected to the fixed terminal b on the other side, the output signal of the post-amplifier 330 is input to the distortion and noise canceling device 400 of the present invention, After the distortion and noise components are canceled, they are input to the directional coupler 340.
Since the distortion and noise canceling apparatus 400 of the present invention is the same as the operation of FIG. 2 described above, a detailed description of the operation is omitted.

  A part of a small level of the signal input to the directional coupler 340 is input to the transponder 342 so that a status monitoring system and a network management system can be operated. The network equipment control reception signal included in the downstream signal is decoded. The network monitoring or status monitoring transmission signal output from the transponder 342 includes a directional coupler 344, an upstream amplifier 346, a low-pass filter (LPF), and a gain controller 348. , Through the upstream attenuator pad 350 and the upstream equalizer 352, the L portion of the low pass filter of the diplexer 314 and the RF / AC separator 312 are output to the coaxial cable connection terminal 302 and the upstream signal is transmitted in the direction of the head end. Is done.

  The signals output to the main path side of the directional coupler 340 are two signals of the same level by a high frequency splitter (RF splitter) 358 through a branch output equalizer 354 and a branch output attenuator pad 356. It is divided into. One of the signals divided by the high frequency distributor 358 is output to the coaxial cable connection terminals 304 and 306 through the branch amplifier 360 and the diplexer 362 and transmitted to the subscriber terminal side.

  The other signal divided by the high frequency distributor 358 is output to the coaxial cable connection terminals 308 and 310 through the branching pad 364, the directional coupler 332, and the diplexer 368, and transmitted to the subscriber terminal side. . As described above, the directional coupler 332 detects the branch output level and is used for automatic amplitude adjustment.

  Further, the upstream signals input to the coaxial cable connection terminals 304 and 306 and the coaxial cable connection terminals 308 and 310 from the subscriber terminal or the device located at the rear end of the present apparatus are transmitted to the low-pass filter of the diplexers 362 and 368. The signals are input to a high frequency synthesizer (RF Combiner) 374 through return switches 370 and 372 and synthesized into one signal. The synthesized signal is amplified by the upstream amplifier 346 through the directional coupler 344, and then the low-pass filter and gain control device 348, the upstream attenuator pad 350, and the downstream of the diplexer 314 through the upstream equalizer 352. The signal is output to the coaxial cable connection terminal 302 through the filter and the RF / AC separator 312 and transmitted in the direction of the head end.

  The return switches 370 and 372 play a role of passing an upstream signal when it exists, and blocking unnecessary circuits when there is no upstream signal so as to remove unnecessary noise upstream.

As described above, the present invention has been described in detail through the representative embodiments. However, those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can be applied to the above-described embodiments in various ways without departing from the scope of the present invention. It will be understood that variations are possible.
Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the claims but also by the equivalents thereof.

  When the distortion and noise cancellation system according to the present invention is configured in an HFC network, there is a difference depending on the construction of the system equipment, but CNR, CSO, and CTB can be improved by at least 2 db, 4 dB, and 10 dB, respectively. Assuming that the coaxial cable section distance of the existing HFC network is about 2 km, the transmission distance can be increased 2 to 3 times by setting the distance to about 4 to 6 km. If the transmission distance is left as it is, the number of channels that can be accommodated by such a performance margin is almost doubled (for example, 90 to 120 channels if the number of transmitted TV channels is 60 channels). It can be extended and transmitted.

  Therefore, if the distortion and noise cancellation apparatus 400 of the distortion and noise cancellation system of the present invention is further added to the existing HFC network, the transmission characteristics of the existing HFC network can be upgraded and modified to high performance. If the system of the present invention is applied to a newly provided HFC network, a high-performance HFC network can be newly constructed.

It is the figure which showed roughly the whole structure of the HFC network containing the distortion and noise cancellation system of this invention. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a preferred embodiment of a distortion and noise cancellation system according to the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the principle of operation of the distortion and noise cancellation system of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the Example which applied the distortion and noise cancellation system of this invention to the coaxial distribution hub branching amplifier of the HFC network.

Explanation of symbols

100 Head end 102 Optical cable 104 Distribution center 106 Optical cable 108 ONU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 Coaxial cable 112 Coaxial distribution hub 114 Coaxial trunk amplifier 116 Optical branching device 118 Optical distributor 120 Optical cable 122 Distortion and noise cancellation part 200 Amplifier 210 Directional coupler 220 Distortion and noise component extraction part 221 Optical / RF signal converter 223 etc. 225 Delay unit 227 Attenuator 229 Directional coupler 230 Cancellation unit 231 Error amplifier 233 Phase transition unit 235 Directional coupler 300 Coaxial branch amplifier 302, 304, 306, 308, 310 Coaxial cable connection terminal 312 RF / AC separation 314 Diplexer 316 Equalizer 320 Preamplifier 322 High pass filter and gain controller 324 Attenuator pad 326 Equalizer 328 Pin diode 330 Post amplifier 332 Directional coupler 334 Attenuator pad 336 Automatic Width adjustment circuit 338 Output-distortion / noise canceling switch 340 Directional coupler 342 Transponder 344 Directional coupler 346 Up amplifier 348 Low pass filter and gain control device 350 Up attenuator pad 352 Up equalizer 354 For branch output Equalizer 356 Branch output attenuator pad 358 High frequency distributor 360 Branch amplifier 362 Diplexer 364 Branch pad 366 Branch circuit output amplifier 368 Diplexer 370 Return switch 374 High frequency synthesizer 400 Distortion and noise canceling device

Claims (8)

An ONU that converts an optical signal received from the head end side via the first optical cable into an RF signal and transmits the RF signal to the coaxial distribution hub via the coaxial cable;
A plurality of coaxial trunk amplifiers that are cascaded to the coaxial cable and amplify the RF signal;
An optical branching device for branching an optical signal through the first optical cable and transmitting the optical signal to the coaxial distribution hub through a second optical cable;
The distortion and noise components included in the RF signal received through the coaxial cable are extracted using the optical signal that is provided in the coaxial distribution hub and transmitted by the second optical cable, and the extracted distortion and noise components are extracted. A distortion and noise canceling system for an HFC network, comprising: a distortion and noise canceling unit that couples to an RF signal received via the coaxial cable to cancel distortion and noise components. The distortion and noise canceling unit is
Distortion and noise components for converting an optical signal received via the second optical cable into an RF signal and combining the converted RF signal with an RF signal received via the coaxial cable to extract distortion and noise components An extractor;
The HFC network according to claim 1, further comprising: a canceling unit configured to combine the distortion and noise components extracted by the distortion and noise component extraction unit with an RF signal received via the coaxial cable to cancel the distortion and noise components. Distortion and noise cancellation system. The distortion and noise canceling unit is
The distortion and noise cancellation of the HFC network according to claim 2, further comprising a directional coupler that divides an RF signal received through the coaxial cable and inputs the RF signal to the distortion and noise component extraction unit and the cancellation unit, respectively. system. The distortion and noise component extraction unit is
An optical / RF signal converter for converting an optical signal received via the second optical cable into an RF signal;
A delayer for delaying the RF signal converted by the optical / RF signal converter;
A directional coupler that subtracts an RF signal delayed by the delay unit from an RF signal received via the coaxial cable to extract distortion and noise components, and distortion of the HFC network according to claim 2. Noise cancellation system.   The HFC network of claim 4, further comprising an equalizer between the optical / RF signal converter and the delay unit that adjusts an overall frequency response characteristic of an RF signal converted by the optical / RF signal converter. Distortion and noise cancellation system. The distortion and noise component extraction unit is
The distortion and noise cancellation system of an HFC network according to claim 4, further comprising an attenuator that attenuates an RF signal received via the coaxial cable. The offset unit is
The distortion and noise cancellation system for an HFC network according to claim 2, further comprising a directional coupler that subtracts the distortion and noise components extracted by the distortion and noise component extraction unit from an RF signal received via the coaxial cable. The offset unit is
An error amplifier that amplifies the distortion and noise components extracted by the distortion and noise component extraction unit and inputs them to the directional coupler;
The HFC network distortion and noise canceling system according to claim 7, further comprising a phase shifter that shifts a phase of an RF signal received via the coaxial cable and inputs the phase of the RF signal to the directional coupler.

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